The wilderness moved – and shook – to an urban setting earlier this month when a grassroots coalition called Sportsmen for Browns Canyon showcased its ongoing effort to preserve a portion of the Arkansas River as the nation’s next National Monument. The edgy multi-media display on the facade of the McNichols Building was a far cry from the peace and quiet of Browns Canyon, but it made the point.

“We just want to keep Browns Canyon the way it is – pristine and wild,” said Kyle Perkins of Trout Unlimited, coordinator of the group. “Our goal with the video event was to visually bring this amazing place to the heart of downtown Denver. We wanted urban residents to experience some of the grandeur and awe of Browns and to support our efforts to protect it for future generations.”Read more…

University of Colorado junior Emma Coburn competes during the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Drake Stadium at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday, June 9, 2011. Coburn advanced to Saturday's final by winning her heat in 10:00.43.

DES MOINES, Iowa — University of Colorado steeplechasers Emma Coburn and Shalaya Kipp easily advanced to Saturday’s 3,000-meter steeplechase final in yesterday’s qualifying rounds at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Coburn, who has the nation’s No. 1 collegiate time in 9:40.51 (a time that earlier tops in the world this season), won the second qualifying heat in 10 minutes, 0.43 seconds after leading most of the race. Kipp, a sophomore, finished in 10:02.09 in the first heat. Both are seeded second and third behind Virginia senior Stephanie Garcia.

“We’ve never raced head-to-head,” Coburn, a junior, said of Garcia. “I have my eye on her, but there are girls who can run low 9:50s and I need to be ready.”

As an advertisement for the virtues of planning, it often has been mentioned that Noah built his ark before it started to rain. The same strategy should apply for Colorado anglers waiting for all that snow to melt. In a Wednesday story, I laid out the rationale for visiting free-flowing rivers such as the Arkansas well in advance of runoff, which could begin in early May this year from an abundant low-elevation snowpack.

It’s all well and good to get our licks in before runoff, but it’s equally important to have an action plan for that extended time—perhaps 2½ months—when rivers will be high and roily. For many, the alternatives are structured around trout-rich reservoirs such as Spinney, the North Park lakes or Antero, should it survive a battle with winter kill.

Some look to big-fish alternatives such as lake trout or northern pike; others turn their attention south to warm-water favorites such as Pueblo or the irrigation impoundments of the far southeast, where this same runoff offers the promise of badly needed refreshment.

Yet another option lies in this very rush of runoff. Think of high water as an opportunity rather than an impediment and you might be set for a different sort of stream experience. Heavy flows serve to push trout to the edges, where they actually are compacted into eddies or pockets of quiet water.

Find a stretch of shoreline amenable to walking and you might be in for fast action. Best part is, you won’t find many fishermen in your path.

After a seven-year snooze, the soon-to-be-famous Pole-Pedal-Paddle is returning to the Ark River Valley. Pole and skate from the top of Monarch Pass along the Monarch Crest for 6.7 miles. Pedal from the South Fooses parking lot on non-technical trail for 22 miles down to the Ark. Jump in the boat and paddle into a certain Ark Valley town where an ample flow of Benson’s beverages promises to erase any suffering from the previous several hours. This is the true off-the-couch athlete race; the kind where gravity is only briefly battled. Individual racers are $50 and teams are $75, with proceeds benefiting the venerable Arkansas River Trust.
Register at www.3psalida.com

If you’re like me, the fishing itch has me fidgeting in my desk chair. My thoughts keep wandering away from the work at hand to some far off place where the sun is shining and the fish are jumping. Read more…

At the end of November last year, the state’s go-to guy for weather prognostication, CU and NOAA researcher Klaus Wolter issued a prediction for this winter:“Oh it’s dry and grim.”

Today, we’re wallowing in a winter for the record books. Statewide, the snowpack in Colorado’s seven river basins was 134 percent of the 30-year average, the best it’s been this time of year in a decade.
In the Upper Rio Grande basin down south: 173 percent of average.
San Miguel, Dolores, Animas and San Juan: 167 percent.
Arkansas: 165 percent.
Gunnison: 152 percent.
Colorado River basin: 127 percent.
Yampa and White: 110 percent.
And the wee-est of the pack: The South Platte is a mere 101 percent of its 30-year average.
And we’ve still got the wettest month, March, to go.

Those who wonder if Colorado football coach Dan Hawkins really does place more emphasis on special teams than many other college coaches, here’s some evidence.

Hawkins has made sure that the Buffaloes will have three strong-legged candidates to replace departing place-kicker Kevin Eberhart next season. Already on board are true freshman Tyler Cope, a former Portland, Ore., prep star who has capably handled kickoffs all season, and Wyoming transfer Aric Goodman, a former all-stater from Cherry Creek High School who is redshirting this season.